Process of and apparatus for manufacturing wire rope



(No Model.)

A. F. W. PARTZ.

PROCESS OF AND APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING WIRE ROPE.

No. 482,190. Patented Sept. 6, 1892.

Jm/anior IINiTED STATES ATENT rFIcE.

AUGUST F. W. PARTZ, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

PROCESS OF AND APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING WIRE ROPE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 482,190, datedSeptember 6, 1892.

Application filed June 20, 1891 To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that 1, AUGUST FJWV. PARTZ, acitizen of the United States,and a resident of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,haveinvented certainImprovements in Processes of and Apparatus for Manufacturing YVire Rope,of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to manufacture wire rope the independentstrands of which will be of equal tension, thus lessening to a greatextent the tendency of the single strands to break or tear.

My invention consists, first, in a process of equalizing the tensionupon the different strands of a wire rope by exposing it under suitablestrain to a sufficient softening heat to cause the tighter strands to bedrawn out and all to become evenly stretched and compactly joined, and,second, in certain apparatus herein described for executing saidprocess.

The figure in theaccompanying drawing is a vertical section and partialside view of a device embodying the mechanical parts of my invention.

I do not confine myself to the use of the devices shown, since the sameobject may be accomplished by other devices; but I deem the device shownespecially well adapted for my purpose.

The service of a wire rope isoftener terminated by the tearing orbreaking and untwistin g of single strands than by ordinary gradual weardue to attrition. This is chiefly owing to the fact that it ispractically impossible to twist a number of wires into a rope so thatthey are throughout of equal tension. Those in places most tightly drawnmust therefore actually bear the strain for the respective length ofrope till they either stretch or tear, while those of lesser tension areliable to bend aside and eventually break in passing over grooved wheelsor upon a drum, but especially when they are in cables subjected to thepushing force of the grips of traction-cars.

Referring to the drawing, A is a furnace in the form of a shaft, throughthe middle of which extends a vertical tube a, of clay, graphite, orother suitable material, the furnace in the present instance beingheated by gas introduced through the fine I), combustion taking placearound the tube a, and the products Serial No. 396,983- (No model.)

being led off through a flue c to a chimney. The wire rope 0: passes upthrough the tube a of the furnace, being unwound from a drum 13, mountedin suitable bearings and wound upon a drum D after leaving the furnace,said drum D also being furnished with suitable bearings. The rope passesaround a grooved guide-wheel Z) below the arched base of the furnace andthrough a box 9, filled with coarse sand or granular iron, the object ofthis box being to prevent the air from entering the tube to anobjectionable degree, though other means may be employed to shut off theentrance of air without departing from my invention.

Air-holes f f are formed in the stack, which may be partly closed bybricks or irons, and g is a tube of clay or graphite which I use for theintroduction of a pyrometer.

The drum D is driven in any suitable manner, and I have shown in thisinstance a pulley mounted on the drum-shaft and driven through themedium of a belt, and to keep the rope properly stretched while passingthrough the furnaceI place a brake upon the drum B. In thepresentinstanceI have shown a brake-lever I, having a shoe 6, whichbears against a wheel on the shaft of the drum,and I provide the leverwith an adjustable weight or spring.

In the present instanceI have shown apipe II, preferably provided with afiat nozzle, through which a blast of air or a spray of water may beforced against the wire rope as it comes from the furnace; but othercooling devices may be used without departing from my invention.

The heat to be maintained in the tube a and the speed at which the wirerope is to be drawn through the same naturally depend one upon the otherand both on the thickness of the rope and the material from which it ismade, as well as the length of the tube in the furnace, wherefore thespeed of the wire rope and the heat of the furnace are matters to bedetermined by practical trials under given conditions. For generalguidance it may be said that the wire rope should emerge from thefurnace with a red glow indicative of a temperature of between 550 and600 centigrade, at which the iron or steel wires composing the rope willbe sufficiently soft to attain under a proper strain a perfectly-uniformtensile state. The said temperature implies for the tube a, from whichthe rope is heated by radiation, one ranging approximately between 900and 1,000 centigrade. By maintaining the rope in an upright positionwhile it is subjected to heat the sag of the rope is obviated, andconsequently an even strain can be placed upon all portions of the rope,and when the rope is subjected to transmitted heat, as in a tube, therope will be in a central position, and therefore evenly heated, whereasif it were heated in ahorizontal position the lower half would be heatedto a greater degree than the upper half, and consequently it would bestretched to a greater degree.

In order that a wire rope may be speedily cooled as it leaves thefurnace, and if it be of steel also be tempered, it is exposed to eithera blast of air or a spray of water. In the one case the pipe H isconnected with a blowingengine, and the air may in some instances be ledthrougha cooling apparatus. In the other case the pipe is connected witha pump or reservoir furnishing water under suflicient pressure toproduce a spray by its ejection from a narrow slot ora row of smallholes in the pipe, and in order to etfect a more thorough cooling theremay be two or more such pipes placed in any suitable manner with respectto the rope.

In some instances the wire rope may be subjected to the direct action ofcombustion in any suitable furnace. It will thus be seen that by theabove-described apparatus a wire rope may be unwound from one drum,heated to the required degree, and when at the proper heat be stretchedso that the strands composing the rope will be of equal length, afterwhich the rope may be cooled and wound upon a second drum or otherwisedisposed of. A rope thus treated will not be open to the objectionsmentioned in the fore part of this specification, as the strain will beupon all of the strands rather than upon only a portion of them, as isnow the case.

It will be seen that the application of the described process admits ofsteel ropes being made of soft wire and subsequently brought to thedesired temper.

Cables composed of several wire ropes may be first mechanicallycompleted and then position, substantially as described.

2. The process of equalizingthe tension and compacting. the strands of awire rope, said process consisting in subjecting the rope to '3 theaction of transmitted heat while said rope is under strain, ismaintained in an upright position, and is protected from a flow of air,substantially as described.

3. In an apparatus for heating Wire rope,

the combination of afurnace, an upright fireproof tube therein throughwhich the rope to be heated is passed, and mechanism for feeding saidrope through the furnace and for imparting tension to the rope,substantially as described.

4. The combination of the upright'furnace.

the upright fireproof tube therein, inlets and outlets for the passageof the rope to be heated, and a box containing granular material,through which the rope passes into the tube, substantially as described.5. The process of tempering ropes of steel wire, consisting in passingthe rope under tension through an upright furnace, in which it issubjected to asoftening heat, and exposingthe rope to a blast of air ora spray of water as it emerges from the furnace, substantially asdescribed.

6. Thecombination of the furnace, the upright chamber therein throughwhich the rope to be heated is passed, a delivery-drum and areceiving-drum for the rope, and a water-spraying device situatedbetween the furnace and the receiving-drum through which water can beforced against the rope, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

' AUGUST F. W. PARTZ. Witnesses:

J NO. E. PARKER, H. F. REARDON.

